Guantánamo Bay Case Study

Guantánamo Bay is sometimes referred to as Gitmo and is located on the coast of Cuba. The base sits on the 45-Square mile portion of Cuba that the United States is leasing from them. The contract that was signed between the US and Cuba, is that it can only be ended based on mutual agreement between the two. Gitmo has a very different set of rules and rights for prisoners held there, purely based on the fact that they are not located on US soil. Because they’re not on our land, they are not obligated to the same rights as one that lives here.

Cuba started the leasing agreement in 1903 to the United States for the 45 square mile land. The lands purpose was to build a naval station for the United States. The building of the station started the same year the agreement took place. Cuba and the US signed a perpetual lease in 1934 that stated the US would pay Cuba $4,085 per year for the property. From 1903-1991, the base's primary

They were forced to do this based off of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The list had a total of 558 detainees on April 19, 2006. On May 15, 2006, another list was released which contained 759 inmates since 2001. Another major event that occurred in 2006 in Gitmo, was that there were three detainees by the names of Ali Abdullah Ahmed, Mani al-Habardi al- Utaybi, and Yassar Talal al-Zahrani that were found dead in their prison cells. The expected cause of death for the three of them was suicide.

Again in 2006, there was a new law passed for military operations based out of Gitmo. The Supreme Court limited the power of the government to conduct military tribunals for suspected terrorists imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay. September 6, 2006, the CIA had informed President Bush that they had 14 al Qaeda operatives and they were all transferred to Gitmo shortly